On September 12, 1906, what would later become known as the American
Lung Association of Washington was organized at a meeting of the State Medical
Society in Spokane. The purpose of the Washington Association for the
Prevention and Relief of Tuberculosis was to raise awareness about the causes
and treatment of tuberculosis, construct institutions in which cases of
tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases could be treated, and promote the
formation of local associations at the county level. Responsibility for
developing the role of the Washington Association for the Prevention and Relief
of Tuberculosis in the promotion of community health was given to Dr. William
R.M. Kellogg. He was named secretary of the organization at its founding.

In the next two years, despite having contracted tuberculosis, Dr.
Kellogg focused on extending the organization from Seattle north to Everett,
where anti-tuberculosis programs were directed primarily towards children. The
result of these efforts is the organization’s continuing emphasis on
education. In order to educate a larger number of people on a regular basis,
Dr. Kellogg began publication of The Pacific Coast
Journal of Tuberculosis in 1908. In addition to calling attention to the
need to educate people about the disease, Dr. Kellogg led the effort to
establish an institution in Seattle for the treatment of tuberculosis patients.
The first sanatorium in the state, the Pulmonary Hospital of the City of
Seattle, was completed in 1908.

On October 14, 1908, Dr. Kellogg passed away after his struggle with
tuberculosis. His death was a significant obstacle to the further development
of the organization; as a result of his passing, little was done by the
association until 1910.

In 1909 the initial steps toward a reinvigoration of the
anti-tuberculosis movement in the state were taken. Members of the state
association founded the Anti-Tuberculosis League of King County, on February
25, and soon thereafter a statewide traveling clinic raised broader interest in
the issue. The following year Bethesda Beals Buchanan accepted the position of
the first Executive Secretary of the Washington Association for the Prevention
and Relief of Tuberculosis.

Mrs. Buchanan, held the position for for thirty-five years. During
this time she oversaw the organization and publicity work of the association.
During the early part of her tenure, the association focused on expanding the
number of county leagues in the state. In 1911, in addition to the King County
league, there were newly formed leagues in Clark, Pierce, Snohomish-Island, and
Spokane counties, with the Skagit County league coming into existence within
the year.

The efforts of both the state association and the county leagues at
this time were concentrated in a limited number of areas related to the
treatment of the disease. These areas of involvement remained close to the
original purpose of the organization and included the continued use of
traveling clinics, the development of nursing and public health programs, the
sale of Christmas Seals, the placement of exhibits and booths at county and
state fairs, and the construction of sanatoria. In 1913 the association
succeeded in creating and passing the “Tuberculosis Law of 1913,”
which provided county commissioners with the opportunity for increased autonomy
from the state association by allowing counties to employ nurses and construct
hospitals on their own. The most prominent and regionally oriented of these
hospitals were Fairland (1911) in Seattle; Mountain View (1914 – the
first county sanatorium in the state) in Lakeview, Pierce County; Edgecliff
(1915) in Spokane; and Aldercrest (1918) in Snohomish, the latter three
resulting from the 1913 legislation.

In 1915 the Washington Association for the Prevention and Relief of
Tuberculosis was incorporated. In the next four years leagues were established
in fifteen counties, including Walla Walla (1916), Yakima (1918), Chelan
(1918), and Grays Harbor (1919). The following year, on February 6, 1920, the
Washington Association for the Prevention and Relief of Tuberculosis
‘following the example of many similar organizations,’ changed
its name to the Washington Tuberculosis Association.

The organization, while maintaining its emphasis in the previously
mentioned areas of education and care, expanded its role. The Health Pilot , a monthly newsletter edited by Mrs.
Buchanan, Dr. Clarence A. Smith, and John Weinzirl, was first published in
January 1919 and continued through 1944. Correspondence between Mrs. Buchanan
and the secretaries of the individual county associations, most notably Honoria
Hughes of the Anti-Tuberculosis League of King County and Minnie M. Sheldon of
the Tuberculosis League of Pierce County, increased as the leagues developed.
The growth of the separate leagues also allowed for a certain degree of
specialization, with various counties leading the progression in certain areas
of the anti-tuberculosis movement. This organizational structure, in which the
county leagues remained predominantly independent of one another and from the
state association, remained essentially the same for fifty years.

In 1971 the Washington Tuberculosis Association changed its name to
the Washington Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association. Two years
later, in addition to undertaking another change in name, this time to the
Washington Lung Association, the association absorbed each of the county
corporations and associations.

In the 1970s the association focused more intensely on advocacy and
activism in addressing community issues related to respiratory health. The two
most significant cases in which the association was involved were related to
the American Smelting and Refining Company’s (ASARCO) Tacoma copper
smelter and the incidence of asbestos in Seattle schools. In both cases the
Washington Lung Association worked with community and environmental
organizations to raise awareness about health risks.

In the instance of ASARCO, the association assisted a number of
organizations in their efforts to enforce the company's compliance with sulfur
dioxide emissions standards variances granted by the Puget Sound Air Pollution
Control Agency . These groups included Clean Air for Washington, the Washington
Environmental Council, Friends of the Earth, and the Air Quality Coalition. The
extent to which the Washington Lung Association played a role in the legal
battles that ensued is unclear, but the association did, at various times,
correspond with the National Clean Air Coalition, the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency on the issue. In the
early 1980s, evidence of elevated levels of lead and arsenic were documented in
the soil and vegetation in areas located downwind from the smelter. In 1985 the
Tacoma plant was closed after approximately fifteen years of legal challenges.

The late 1970s and early 1980s also saw the Washington Lung
Association address the issue of asbestos in Seattle-area schools. Janet
Chalupnik, the Director of Environmental Health Programs at the W.L.A., headed
efforts to call attention to the deteriorating condition of ceilings in certain
schools within the district. In June of 1979 Mrs. Chalupnik addressed the
Seattle School Board on the risk posed to children in the affected schools.
Those schools that were found to be in the poorest condition included Roosevelt
and Garfield high schools, Madison Junior High, Hamilton Middle School and
Bryant Elementary School. In 1983, as a result of the efforts of the
association and parents of students who were attending the schools, the Seattle
School District met a 1982 Environmental Protection Agency regulation that
required school administrators to inspect for friable asbestos.

On July 17, 1981, the Washington Lung Association changed its name
once again, this time to the American Lung Association of Washington (ALAW). In
the next two decades the ALAW remained active in educating the public about
potential health risks, as well as maintaining an influential advocacy presence
in Olympia. Today the ALAW, through awards and grants, supports research at
institutions such as the University of Washington, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center.
The association also organizes activities such as the Trek Tri-Island cycling
trip and the Climb for Clean Air ascent of Mt. Rainier, as fundraisers and also
in order to raise awareness about issues related to air pollution and air
quality..

Photographs of the American Lung Association of Washington's early
leaders, members involved in public outreach and health services, and
sanatoriums in Washington State. The collection also includes images of the
activities, projects, and outreach campaigns of various county
anti-tuberculosis organizations, particularly in King and Pierce Counties and
images of Christmas Seals and Christmas Seals campaigns. There are also film
strips relating to tuberculosis education and a collection of lantern slides
illustrating research on nutrition and children done by Dr. William
Emerson.

Restrictions on Use

Acquisition Information

Gift of the American Lung Association of Washington; received November
19, 2001 and December 16, 2003.

Processing Note

Processed by Tom Dobrowolsky, 2005, and Solveig Ekenes, 2006.

The American Lung Association of Washington photograph collection
was relocated from the Records of the American Lung Association of Washington,
Manuscripts Accession No. 5271-001 and Accession No. 5271-002, in the
repository on December 1, 2003 and January 23, 2004.

Images of efforts to publicize the health concerns related to
tuberculosis, including parade floats and stands at conventions and state and
regional fairs. All images are of Washington Tuberculosis Association booths
unless otherwise noted.

From
The Tacoma News Tribune,
Thursday, March 23, 1961: "St. Patrick's Day was 'Hat Day' at the Mountain View
General Hospital, when the 'San Grads' held a party for the patients and their
own members. The San Grads, organized several years ago, give a monthly party
for the sixty patients in the Tuberculosis Division of the hospital. Pictured
above from the left are Mrs. Charles Wells, Earl Hartshorn, Mrs. Floyd
Hambleton, seated, Alfred Calvert, Mrs. Hartshorn and Robert Sweitzer."

Two children
holding Lung Association cross in front of white Christmas tree

undated

1/26

233

Two children and
two women standing in front of white Christmas tree

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Christmas Seals
stamps

Color 35mm slides of annual Christmas Seals stamps from 1908 to
1964. Christmas Seals through the year 1919 contain the American Red Cross logo
as well as an "American Red Cross" inscription (1908 Seal bears an "American
National Red Cross" inscription). The 1919 Christmas Seal bears both Red Cross
logo and the current American Lung Association logo (red cross with two
crossbars). After that year, only the Lung Association logo is displayed; the
only inscriptions that are printed are the slogan for the given year.

Color 35mm film strip created by the National Tuberculosis
Association on the health concerns related to tuberculosis.

undated

2

269

"Keeping Well and
Happy"

Color 35mm film strip created by the National Tuberculosis
Association based on the booklet by Ruth Strang.

undated

2

270

"ME vs
TB"

Black and white 35mm film strip created by the National
Tuberculosis Association following a journalist through the basic steps of
diagnosis and treatment for tuberculosis from the film "Time Out".

undated

2

271

"TB
Facts"

Black and white 35mm film strip created by the National
Tuberculosis Association answering many of the public's questions related to
tuberculosis from the film "This Is TB".

undated

2

272

"Tuberculosis - What
It Is And What To Do About It"

Color 35mm film strip created by the National Tuberculosis
Association outlining symptoms, detection, and treatments for tuberculosis.

undated

Nutrition Research by Dr. William R.P.
Emerson, circa
1919-1922Return to Top

Forty-five lantern slides representing the work of Dr. William R.
P. Emerson with nutrition in young children and The Elizabeth McCormick
Memorial Fund . The slides feature images of children at the Nutrition Clinics
for Delicate Children in Boston, Massachusetts as well as school children in
Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Emerson published several books in the first half of the
20th century on the topics of general health and children's nutrition.

Photocopies of the original script and captions for the slides
are located in Box 1 Folder 28.

Container(s)

Description

Dates

Box

item

3

273

Slide 1. "Normal baby
of fifteen months, standing"

3

274

Slide 2. Same baby,
crawling

3

275

Slide 3. "Typical
undernourished boy in a Chicago school"

3

276

Slide 4. "Side view
of malnourished boy"

3

277

Slide 5. "Side view
of three little girls in the Chicago schools"

3

278

Slide 6. Side view of
four boys, "typical cases"

3

279

Slide 7. "Two Chicago
School girls, who have all the symptoms of undernourishment"

3

280

Slide 9. Diagram:
"The Bulwarks that Protect the Health of Children"

3

281

Slide 10. Young boy
standing on height and weight scale

3

282

Slide 12. List: "The
Chief Causes of Malnutrition"

3

283

Slide 13. Children
and adults in a nutrition class in Boston

3

284

Slide 14. Front view
of Charles S., a malnourished young boy

3

285

Slide 15. Chart of
Charles S.'s weight gain from December 1916 through February 1918

3

286

Slide 16. Charles S.,
recovered and smiling

3

287

Slide 17. Chart:
"Effects of Adenoid and Tonsil Operation"

3

288

Slide 18. "Children
with adenoids and bad tonsils"

3

289

Slide 18b. Mother and
son

3

290

Slide 19. Chart:
Overfatigue in school and its effects on weight

3

291

Slide 20. Boy lying
on back, illustrating "proper posture to be taken during rest
periods"

3

292

Slide 21. Boy lying
on stomach, also illustrating "proper posture to be taken during rest
periods"

3

293

Slide 25. Chart:
Weight of child who was fed thin beef soup

3

294

Slide 26. Chart:
Weight of child who was not fed cereals

3

295

Slide 27. Diagram:
"Milk as Compared to Coffee or Tea as Food"

3

296

Slide 28. Twin girls
standing side by side, one a milk drinker, the other not

Slide 40. Chart of
Dorothy A.'s weight gain from February 1919 to October 1919

3

306

Slide 42. Dorothy A.,
"a picture of health"

3

307

Slide 43. Chart of
Ruth L.'s weight gain from November 1919 to June 1920

3

308

Slide 44. "Virginia.
This is the way a happy, healthy child ought to look."

3

309

Slide 46. Side view
of ten malnourished boys

3

310

Slide 47. Side view
of five malnourished boys who were sent to Arden Shore, an open-air camp in
Illinois, for recovery

3

311

Slide 52. Back view
of two boys upon return from Arden Shore

3

312

Slide 54. Side view
of healthy boy, "ready for work, after having been built up at the Camp"

3

313

Slide 55. Healthy
child who was once a malnourished baby

3

314

"The Most Frequent
Causes of Malnutrition"

3

315

Chart: "Children 10%
or more underweight by Schools"

3

316

Chart: "Children 10%
or more underweight by Grade"

3

317

Statue of mounted
horseman being led by an angel

Architectural drawings of Health
House, February 26, 1997Return to Top

Container(s): Mapcase M436, Item 318

16 drawings : 16 printed ink on bond paper

Bazen & Associates ( Architect)

Bazen & Associates project number: 97-109.

Numbered set of drawings for the American Lung Association's
Health House. These drawings include exterior elevations, foundation plan,
upper and main floor plans, framing plans, transverse building section, window
schedule, building and structural details, electrical plans, and
specifications.